Expo.02, Yverdon

We traveled to Expo.02 in Yverdon for a day on one of the last weeks of
the exhibition. Yverdon was just one of the Arteplages of the Expo, there were a
number of others in the area (Biel, Murten, Neuchatel and Jura). We had heard good reports from others, but weren't quite sure
what to expect. What we saw surprised us. Everything had a very surrealistic,
futuristic look, and it was evident that a lot of ideas, work and expense had gone into making everything look
quite out of
the ordinary. The visual design, supported by the almost omnipresent spacey,
soothing sound, were
excellent and very creative. Some of the exhibits, however, were somewhat lacking
in content. A lot of actors were around, introducing the exhibits and, in
instance, getting people waiting in line to sing or dance, entitling them to
skip the queue. Ah, yes, the queues were the single most irritating part of
Expo, with waits of 45 minutes to an hour per exhibit even on a Thursday. I pity
the people visiting on a weekend!

On the
"Oui" pavillion

The
columns of the pavilion were very bright and made me so dizzy that I had
to take care not to crash into one

A sign
indicating the direction of the entrance to the Arteplage

The
signature structure of Yverdon, the artificial cloud or "blur". It was
possible to walk onto it and to the viewing platform right at the top
(partly visible)

On "blur". The cloud was created with hundreds of nozzles spraying water

Most
everyone wore a raincoat due to the spray on "blur". You could buy a
poncho before entering

There was a bar on blur with
blindingly blue walls, including these special editions of Evian bottled
water

Sign
outside Blur showing the shape of the cloud depending on the wind strength

Exhibit "Signalschmerz" was amazing, a gigantic cube with
long plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling. You had to walk through them, a
unique experience!

Some of
the plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling

A few of the tubes had red lights on them to indicate the
presence of tiny speakers, through which people recounted their story

I was
dizzy again

This exhibit was another huge cube with a cloth skin
painted to look like a cross section of earth

The
entrance to the exhibit. The interior was fantastic, being dark and filled
with couch areas on which you could lie to look up to the huge ceiling, on
which the visuals of a multimedia show were projected

Spiky lamp in the kids' section

Funny
contact ads plastered all over the outside of this exhibit. Great to
read while waiting in line to enter

Looking inside out from the "Oui" exhibit. You could get
married here for a day. We did!

Inside Oui. It got very
confusing with slowly rotating, coloured glass doors. The spacey music
provided the proper mood